The Nets got Lionel Hollins to replace Jason Kidd. That is a good pickup for the Nets and honestly Hollins should have been coaching somewhere last season. He did a great job with the Memphis Grizzlies but he had some differences with ownership.

Hollins win percentage went up each season in the last four years. He’s had some success in the playoffs as well, the Grizzlies knocked off number 1 seed San Antonio Spurs in 2011. The Grizz had great playoff battles against the Spurs, Thunder and Clippers respectively. In his last season with the Grizz he led them to a franchise record 56 wins and they made it to the Conference Finals before being swept by the Spurs.

Hollins is a defensive minded coach. In his last season with the Grizz they held opponents to 89.3 points per game and only 43% from the field. It will be tougher in Brooklyn to get those results because the Nets are older and they don’t have many defensive minded players.

Offensively the styles of the teams are very different. In Memphis he had Gasol and Randolph, two players that played well together and could bully teams in the paint. The Nets have decent size but are perimeter oriented for the most part. Brook Lopez is coming back from another injury and he could be the inside presence that they need. The offense in Memphis was never electric or exciting so it will be interesting to see what Hollins does with this Nets roster.

The Nets might not be as good as they were last season after losing Livingston and with the possibility of losing KG and Pierce. They got a good coach so that is a step in the right direction. It will take some time to rebuild this roster because they don’t have many first round draft picks. They did get two second round picks for Kidd and now they added Hollins, the Nets are doing okay in free agency.